Text; with Action for Olivine

[missleadingquestions]

So how important are type advantages when you're going up against gym leaders?

I finally have a bunch of ghosts! But their only other types are Fairy, Flying, and Poison. Is that a good set?

[Sometimes you just need to crowdsource tactics when you want to start on your journey to being the Master of Ghosts. Or anything similar.]

Or does the species of pokemon it is matter even more than its type?



ACTION - OUTSIDE OLIVINE (Early evening)

[Training with ghosts seems to be best at night and just before night! That's why Maya's out with her team— Sensu Oricorio, Gastly, Sinistea, Lycanroc, and watching from nearby, a recently evolved Swellow and her strongest teammate, Mimikyu. She wants to train on type advantages, but there's only one problem.]

C'mon, you guys! I know you don't wanna hurt each other, but we're never gonna get stronger if we don't focus on the tough stuff!

[She tries to encourage her still-young team, hands on her hips, but Gastly, Sinistea, and Oricorio each look at each other apprehensively. From nearby, Mimikyu pipes up with its strange bell-like tone, and Maya responds—]

I know you'd do it, Lumi, but you're too big for these guys! We've got to do our best to catch up to Lumi's level, alright, guys?

[They don't look quite convinced, though...

Maya sighs, hands on her hips.]

I guess... we could keep trying to fight wild Pokemon...

[But perhaps any passing trainers might lend a hand— or even a battle?]


ACTION FOR DANDY - Earlier that day

[Did Dandy think he was going to have an easy day today? TOO BAD. Wherever the poor man is at, Maya bursts in the door suddenly, pointing at him just like her lawyer friends objecting.]

HEY! What do you know about the gym challenge?

[...Lumi is actually in her arms, pointing along with her in tandem. If it weren't so sudden and rude, it might actually be kind of cute.]

Comments

text; un: bakugou

[apshot]

Making sure you have a type advantage sure as hell doesn't hurt.

un: parillegal

[missleadingquestions]

dang... i guess that means I might have to focus on multiple teams huh

there's stuff ghosts are weak against too!




Like other ghosts!! who even decided that??

[apshot]

Don't look at me. I don't make the rules when it comes to shitty type advantages. All I know is that using your brain a little never hurts.

probably the dandy one

[adandyinspace]

[The door bursts open and suddenly there's yelling, so Dandy leaps on the couch he was peacefully sitting on, only to start yelling and shouting himself.]

GUAAAHHHHMARTINI LASER BEAMS!!!

[The once curled up deino jumps up and fires what she can only assume her trainer means, like, a dragon breath or something. Of course, much like her trainer, her aim is just off enough where the attack flies over Maya's shoulder.

Which, like, thank god, because they both chill the moment they see it's only Maya.]

Huh, what? ...Gyms? [blink] Yeah, I've done one of those before.

[missleadingquestions]

[Lucky(?) for all of them, even if Martini wasn't bad at aiming, Lumi stretches out her hand and forces it against the doorway— pushing Maya, in turn, against the other side of the door frame and out of the shot. To keep herself from losing her balance, she props her foot up on the doorframe too, looking for all the world like a... really bad replication of Dandy's own door-holding pose.]

What? Only one?

[Her shoulders— and foot— fall.]

I thought you said you were good at pokemon!

text

[nastyboy]

In my experience, strategy reigns supreme in a battle. Following after that would be type advantages, or at least ensuring you are not heavily disadvantaged. Level comes after that. If your companions are significantly more powerful than your opponent, you can brute force your way through a battle.

However, that can only work for so long, especially if one is doing the gym challenge.

Fairy, Flying, and Poison offer interesting ranges between all of them, with perhaps Fairy having the least weaknesses. Yet it seems that Ghost is still weak against itself, so you will always have to worry about that.

text

[missleadingquestions]

yeah!! that's the biggest problem... how are you supposed to get stronger if you're weak against your own type??

[It doesn't make much sense to her, but at least it isn't the only type weak to itself.]

but if I'm gonna raise ghosts I guess that means they'll have to work harder than the other types!! Or... focus on defense? hmmmmm

a-action

[sassymaru]

[Did someone say battle?]

[Or, you know, imply it? Because Venipede is here to help. Like a tiny, grumpy little steamroller, the bug comes charging toward poor Maya and her group. Waving its feelers menacingly. Fear it! For it is a terrifying beast of Bug!]

[... Unfortunately for said bug, its trainer is jogging after it. No mean feat in an outfit like that. Complete with big floppy hat, and sunglasses. A Sensu Oricorio of his own perched on one shoulder, matching his hair - now a pale lavender for summer.]

My deepest apologies! I looked away from him for only a moment!

[Venipede puffs up again. FIGHT IT!]

[missleadingquestions]

[The whole little group (aside from the two birds and doll-thing watching) jump at the sight of the Venipede, Maya included! But Maya likes bugs a bit too, and can't help but laugh at the sight of it. While the sinistea, gastly, and lycanroc all give the bug some space, the light blue Oricorio flutters up to Maya's shoulder to give Shadowmaru's a little wave.]

Whoa-ho-hoa! What a tough looking little guy!

[She grins practically ear to ear, bending down to get a better look and resting her hands on her knees— but not getting so close as to potentially get in Venipede's range. Gotta not get own her ass beat by a bug, after all—]

No problems here! Looks like he's just rarin' for a fight, huh?

TEXT

[seacub]

I actually try to work against type advantages, so I don't know if I can really give good advice haha.

No one's overleveled or anything like that, but I just think it adds more of a challenge for both sides that way!

[missleadingquestions]

yeah?? so do you just wing it, or are your pokemon really fast or something?

text; un: allmightfan1

[mightdoriya]

When I first started out, most of my Pokemon were grass types! It was like that for a while, and while I did struggle a little preparing for Falkner, it was the strategy I used that got me the badge, I think. I even had the disadvantage with a lot of my team and no real strong type advantage. So I think while it definitly helps make the battle easier, it's not going to automatically win or lose the battle either.

If you're able to think on your toes and come up with a proper strategy, I think you'd do just fine with mostly ghosts. Ghosts have a lot of resistance too, so they'e not going to be as easy for most people to counter.

[missleadingquestions]

resistance... so you mean, if we train hard, they'll be able to stand up even to other ghosts? That makes sense!

[and she does mean it; it's just like channelling. The stronger medium calls the spirit— and while usually one medium shouldn't be able to call a channelled spirit away from another person, Maya has done it before. SO it stands to reason that while a Ghost is its own worst enemy, it could grow its resistence.]

At least it's not a guarantee I'll lose. I love training with these guys! It'd suck if we couldn't win a badge together

text

[songstressedout]

I'd say they're pretty important, though not completely necessary. I would recommend you make sure that you're not the one with a type disadvantage, though!

[missleadingquestions]

yeah... it's a little trickier when your type is weak against itself, though!

[text]

[captainash]

Type advantages aren't 100% necessary, but you might have to gain a few extra levels if you don't have it. Or bring extra healing items, but that's the expensive option.
There's still plenty of ghosts that cover other secondary types. Still, you have a solid starting set there!

[text]

[missleadingquestions]

Oh wait. you can use those in battle?

[Maya, notoriously thrifty, hasn't done a lot of healing except after battling and training.]

more excuses to collect more ghosts are definitely welcome though!! there really are a lot of pokemon with more than one type huh!

[Text]

[cyan_maid]

Type advantage can play a big part in how a battle goes, but to be honest, having an even playing field can be just as good in some cases! When neither you nor your opponent has a clear advantage or disadvantage I mean. If you want to forge ahead with ghosts, then I don't see why you shouldn't.

[You gotta go with your favorites, that's just. That's the best way to do it.]

Still, if you want to round out your team some more, it won't hurt to look into finding Ghosts with other dual types to them. Grass, Fire, and Water are mainstays, and there are some Ghost types that also carry that typing, so you can't go wrong with them. There's Electric Ghosts, Bug Ghosts, Dark Ghosts, Ice Ghosts, Ground Ghosts, Dragon Ghosts, Steel Ghosts...I want to say almost every other type has a species that is also a Ghost.

...My, um. A relative of mine, John, used to be here, and he very much enjoyed Ghosts and ghost-adjacent things. And my Audino has a vendetta against most Ghosts because she can't normally hit them, so...I just have this sort of stuff in my back pocket.

[missleadingquestions]

that normal-ghost rivalry really is something huh? I bet your audino's gotten really strong because of it!

[it doesn't take much to see this strikes an important chord with Jane, though.]

Thanks so much!! i'll definitely keep a look out. was your relative like a ghost hunter or a medium or something?

text

[lifebloomsanew]

high levels are very important!

at least i think so, i've only done two gyms!

text

[missleadingquestions]

oh really?? what gyms have you done so far??

[bestswordmaster]

[Another teenage girl looking for battle advice? Felix is practically the CEO of that by now.]

type advantage is important, but
there are many tactical considerations
and you must consider type advantage separately for offense vs defense.
your ghost problem has a strategic solution:
teach ghost type moves to non-ghost pokemon.
preferably normal types, since ghost moves can't hurt those.
eevee and meowth can both learn shadow ball with a tm for instance.
but if you absolutely must pit your ghosts against other ghosts
dual types are useful.
for instance ghosts are usually weak to dark moves
but fairies are resistant to them
so your fairy ghosts can fight a ghost with many dark moves a little more effectively.
you still have to worry about the ghost moves obviously
but there are moves you can use to get around that.
type weaknesses can usually be circumvented by combining certain moves in creative ways.
the same is true the other way around too so be careful.
my aegislash is a steel ghost
so he's weak to fire where other ghosts are not.
I suppose the bottom line is that each matchup is unique
so your question is too broad.

[missleadingquestions]

whoa!!! i got so focused on my own pokemon's type advantages i totally forgot to account for their opponent's!!

[she really is taking notes on pretty much everything that's being said on this post!!]
so it REALLY comes down to the match up of each pokemon individually even more than type advantages!!! who knew it could be so complicated

i guess i have to learn more about who I'm going up against!!!

[angewiesen]

Type matching is probably the most important part of battling.

What Gym are you going up against?

[missleadingquestions]

Ecruteak!!

nothing like ghost vs ghost to start things off huh?